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The Little Theatre and U of R present "Mother: Caring for 7 Billion" at the University of Rochester

The Little Theatre and U of R present "Mother: Caring for 7 Billion" at the University of Rochester

Wed, 03/21/2012 - 7:00pm

A clear-eyed documentary on the often controversial topic of the long-term effects of human population growth on humanity’s ability to sustain itself in the face of the finite natural resources of the Earth.﻿

Mother, the film, breaks a 40-year taboo by bringing to light an issue that silently fuels our most pressing environmental, humanitarian and social crises - population growth. In 2011 the world population reached 7 billion, a startling seven-fold increase since the first billion occurred 200 years ago. Join us for a screening of Mother: Caring for 7 Billion﻿ on Wednesday, March 21 at 7 p.m. at the University of Rochester.

Population was once at the top of the international agenda, dominating the first Earth Day and the subject of best-selling books like “The Population Bomb”. Since the 1960s the world population has nearly doubled, adding more than 3 billion people. At the same time, talking about population has become politically incorrect because of the sensitivity of the issues surrounding the topic–religion, economics, family planning and gender inequality. Yet it is an issue we cannot afford to ignore.

Today, nearly 1 billion people still suffer from chronic hunger even though the Green Revolution that has fed billions will soon come to an end due to the diminishing availability of its main ingredients–oil and water. Compounded with our ravenous appetite for natural resources, population growth is putting an unprecedented burden on the life system we all depend on, as we refuse to face the fact that more people equals more problems.

﻿The Little Theatre and the Susan B. Anthony Institute for Gender & Women’s Studies at the University of Rochester are excited to combine forces to present a series of films that explore women’s’ roles in many aspects. It is the second year for each organization to use Women’s History Month as a springboard for film programming.﻿